Tray and bracket for paper sorting



Aug. 11, 1964 B. s. FORNELL ETAL 3,144,243

TRAY AND BRACKET FOR PAPER SORTING Filed Nov. 14, 1962 INVENTORS Bsflrm 5. B A 54L RIC/{4K0 C LOWE ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,144,248 TRAY AND BRACKET FOR PAPER SORTING Ber-til Soren Fornell, 19633 Brady Ave., and Richard G. Lowe, 19200 Westbrook Ave., both of Detroit, Mich. Filed Nov. 14, 1962, Ser. No. 237,495 1 Claim. (Cl. 270-58) This invention relates to a novel tray for handling sheets and stacks of paper and to a novel bracket for supporting the tray on a paper sorting and collating machine in a proper use position, singly and in combination. This application is a continuation-in-part of our co-pending application Serial No. 70,212, filed November 18, 1960, now Patent No. 3,076,647.

Printed sheets of paper are the most widely used medium of communication and each day tons of paper sheets are used for this purpose. Paper sorting and collating machines have been developed to assemble various printed sheets into groups of sheets hereinafter called books. For example, a company may wish to send various printed sheets to persons in its organization such as servicemen, parts departments, sales oflices, accounting offices, etc. A company may also wish to send various sheets to persons outside of the company such as customers, potential customers, purchasing agents, and suppliers. The number of sheets of paper used in this type of communication by even a medium sized company in a months time makes a staggering total and constitutes full time work for numerous persons in an organization.

Before the collating and sorting machines, it was the custom to place the stacks of individual sheets on a table and have a group of persons walk around the table taking a single sheet off each stack and accumulating them in a book having one of each dififerent sheet or multiples thereof. Obviously, thi was a very expensive and time consuming operation.

With a collating or sorting machine, one person takes a stack of like sheets and feeds them into the collating or sorting machine which inserts a single sheet or a multiple thereof into each pocket of a drum or collector device. The drum may have fifty to one hundred pockets so that an operator can make fifty to one hundred books of different sheets in a short time and in a small space. The pockets or collecting devices of the machine may be adapted to receive and contain fifty to one hundred sheets constituting a book.

Thus, in a machine having fifty pockets, an operator may feed one hundred difierent stacks of differently printed sheets into the machine and make fifty books of one hundred diiferent sheets each. This makes a total of five thousand sheets.

Thus, after the operator has fed the stacks of individual sheets into the machine and accumulated them into various books in the pockets or collecting device of the machine, he has the problem of loading the machine and preserving the books individually until they are inserted in envelopes or stitched together.

However, it has been found diflicult and time consuming to remove the books from the machine and preserve their individual identity. The piles of books slip and slide and tend to become mixed. Usually the operator has to align the edges and then cross stack the books to preserve their identity.

With the foregoing in view, it is the primary object of the invention to provide a tray for positioning and holding the cross stacked books and a bracket easily dismountably mounted on the machine for supporting the tray at an advantageous angle to receive the cross stacked books and to assist in aligning their edges and preserving the books individually.

An object of the invention is to'provide a tray having 1 3,144,248 Patented Aug. 11, 1964 ice a bottom member and two adjacent side members normal to one another and to the bottom member.

An object of the invention is to provide a tray member with a bottom member and adjacent side members lying normal each to the other so that disposed with the plane of the bottom member and side members at an angle to the horizontal, the tray presents a downwardly converging pocket for receiving sheets and stacks.

An object of the invention is to provide a bracket for supporting the tray with the plane of its bottom, and side members disposed at an angle to the horizontal so that the tray presents a downwardly sheet receiving pocket.

An object of the invention is to provide a two sided tray having a bottom member so that sheets and stacks of paper may be placed therein with their adjacent edges cornering with the tray adjacent sides and with their opposite adjacent edges free of contact.

An object of the invention is to provide a tray member wherein the sheets of paper may be inserted sidewise in abutment with the tray side members.

An object of the invention is to provide a tray which is capable of handling sheets of paper of greater length and with dimensions than the tray length and Width dimensions.

An object of the invention is to provide a hanger bracket which is easily mounted and dismounted on a machine and which holds the tray in the proper receiving pocket position.

An object of the invention is to provide a base on the bracket at an angle tothe horizontal for supporting the bottom of the tray at an angle to horizontal.

An object of the invention is to provide side flanges on the bracket lying normal to one another and to the base so that they also lie at an angle to the horizontal and are so positioned to abut the adjacent side members of the tray to hold the tray on the base member.

An object of the invention is to provide a hanger for the paper receiving-holding tray which is easily removable from the machine so that it can be detached when not in use to eliminate it as an obstruction around the machine.

An object of the invention is to provide paper receiving trays which are removable from the bracket so that they can be used for storage trays.

An object of the invention is to provide a plurality of trays which are easily supportable on the tray supporting bracket and easily removed therefrom so that as they are filled with sheets of stacks of paper they may be removed and inter-stacked with each other and an empty tray placed on the supporting bracket.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description of the devices embodying the invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view showing a paper sorting machine, work table, and the inventive bracket and tray mounted on the machine.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective View of the hanger of FIG. 1 showing a portion of the machine.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective View of the hanger seen in FIG. 2 viewed from a different angle.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the hanger and tray seen in FIG. 1 showing a portion of the machine; and

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the tray showing sheets cross stacked therein in dotted lines.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like numerals refer to like and corresponding parts throughout the several views, the novel paper handling device disclosed to illustrate the invention comprises, a bracket 10, preferably dismountably mounted on the machine 11, having an upwardly outwardly opening socket 12 formed by the triangulating juncture between a base member 14, a first side flange 15, and a second side flange 16. The tray 20 restably nests in the socket 12 of the bracket and comprises a bottom member 21 and adjacent side members 22 and 23 lying normal to each other and to the base member 21 forming a downwardly inwardly converging pocket 24. The adjacent sides 22 and 23 of the tray abut the adjacent flanges and 16 of the bracket respectively while the bottom 24 of the tray lies against the base 14 of the bracket.

More particularly, a preferred embodiment of the invention includes a reversely bent hook-like flange 30 on the bracket 19 adapted to engage the edge of the machine top panel 31. The flange 30 is supported on an extension portion 32 of the base member 14 and overlies the machine panel 31. The base member extends on a slant from the panel 32 to the flanges 15 and 16. Intermediate the base member 10, a brace 33 is attached such as by welding and abuts the side panel 34 of the machine holding the bracket 10 in a re-inforced outwardly extending position.

The bracket is removed from the machine, such as seen in FIG. 5, by lifting the flange 15 and 16 end of the base member 14 to elevate the panel 32 above the machine top panel 31 whereupon inward movement of the hook flange 30 disengages it from the edge of the machine top panel 31 thus easily dismounting the bracket 10.

In mounting the bracket 10, the user locates the hook flange 30 adjacent the edge of the machine top panel 31 and then lowers the bracket 10 with the hook flange 30 moving automatically into engaging position with the edge of the machine top panel 31 when the brace 33 abuts the machine side panel 34. Obviously, the brace 33 can be removed and the bend 35 in the top panel be used to hold the hook portion 30 in engagement with the edge of the machine top panel 31.

The tray bottom 24 may be formed with an upwardly bent flange 40 and the adjacent side members 22 and 23 bent from a single piece of material and nested in the flanges 40 and welded thereto. The edge of the adjacent side members 22 and 23 of the tray are preferably rolled back in a smooth hem 41 and the outer corners preferably rounded as at 42.

The tray 20 is easily supportably positioned on the bracket 10 by merely laying the tray bottom 21 on the bracket base 14 and allowing the tray to move down the base 14 until its adjacent side members 22 and 23 engage the bracket flanges 15 and 16 respectively. This prevents further movement of the tray on the base 14 and positions the tray so that its pocket 24 extends upwardly facilitating the easy insertion of paper sheets and stacks of paper sheets in the tray.

In operation, with the bracket and tray so positioned, the operator moves the machine pocketed drum 50 to the unload position sequentially relative to each pocket and removes the accumulated book therefrom and lays it in the tray 20 such as in the position A indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 5. He then unloads the next pocket and places the next book crossways to the first book such as in the position B indicated in dotted lines of FIG. 5.

He continues to unload the machine drum 50 by extracting a book from each pocket and laying it crosswise in a tray 20 until the tray is filled. When a tray is filled, he removes it from the bracket by merely lifting it off same and places it on a table 51 such as in position L. He then continues to unload the drum 50 and load trays 2%) until he has completed unloading the drum and he may accumulate trays in the positions indicated in FIG. 1 as L, M, N, O, P, and Q.

If the drum has 50 pockets and each pocket has one hundred sheets in a book he unloads five thousand sheets and probably fills twelve to fifteen trays 20 with the crossstacked books. After the machine is unloaded, the operator repeats machine operation to again load the pockets of the drum 50 with material as selected for the next set of books.

Due to the fact that there is continual activity around the machine during its operation, the preferred embodiment of the invention includes a dismountable bracket, however, it is within the purview of the invention to attach a fixed bracket to the machine if desired.

When the operator drops a book of loose sheets removed from the drum into the tray pocket 24 they automatically fall against the bottom 21 of the tray with their adjacent edges abutting the adjacent side members 22 and 23 of the tray. The sheets in the book, singly and in combination, are not only supported against gravity in the trays position as mounted on the machine by the tray bottom 21 but also supported by the adjacent side members 22 and 23 abutting adjacent edges. This locates the book of sheets in a cornered position in the tray pocket 24 and holds them against moving downwardly or sidewardly.

The sheets have no tendency to move upwardly or outwardly because the inclined sides of the tray pocket 24 formed by the downwardly inwardly converging bottom 21 and side members 22 and 23 cause the sheets to move in the opposite direction. Thus, the operator can properly locate the books of sheets in the tray 20 with a minimum of time devoted to exact position and the sheets and books of sheets then have the tendency to locate themselves in proper book form with aligned edges and with their bodies superposed. In this way the tray has self-loading characteristics thereby saving the operator considerable time.

If desired, the operator can then place a tray loaded with sheets and/ or cross-stacked books on a jogger which will vibrate the tray, sheets, and books thereby moving sheets of each book into exact position relative to each other without removing the sheets or books from the tray. Thus, the tray provides a minimum of handling.

It is to be further noted that the trays with or without sheets inter-stack with one another with a minimum of space as seen at the right hand side of FIG. 1. As shown, the trays are partially telescoped with the bottom member 21 of the upper tray resting on the cross-stacked sheets of the next lower tray. Obviously, if the trays are not filled with sheets they completely telescope and a great number can be stored in a small place.

The inventive tray and bracket singly and in combination constitutes a compact, durable, neat appearing, very inexpensive, highly useful combination adapted to conveniently receive and substantially automatically pocket sheets and books of sheets on a quick production basis and also provides means for carrying, storing, stacking, and jogging the sheets as desired.

Although but a single embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it is obvious that many changes may be made in the size, shape, detail, and arrangement of the various elements of the invention within the scope of the appended claim.

We claim:

In combination,

an easily mounted and easily dismounted bracket for supporting a tray on a machine such as paper sorting and collating machines, and

a carrier tray easily restably supportable on said bracket for handling sheets and stacks of paper conveniently at the machine and easily removable from said bracket for handling sheets and stacks of paper conveniently remote from the machine;

said bracket comprising a hanger portion engageable with a machine for supporting said bracket, a positioner brace on said bracket for abutting a machine to properly locate said bracket,

a base portion on said bracket lying in a first inclined plane,

a first side flange normal to said base portion lying in a second inclined plane, and a second side flange normal to said base portion and normal to said first flange lying in a third inclined plane;

said bracket base portion, said first side flange, and

said second side flange creating an upwardly facing triangular socket converging downwardly inwardly in three planes;

said tray comprising a bottom member for overlying 5 said bracket base portion,

a first side member normal to said bottom member for abutting said bracket first side flange, and

a second side member normal to said bottom member and said first side member for abutting said bracket 10 second side flange;

said tray bottom and side members creating an upwardly facing three sided pocket converging downwardly in three planes when positioned on said 15 bracket;

said tray when so positioned receiving sheets and stacks so that the sheets and stacks are positioned accurately over and relative to one another;

said tray when loaded with sheets being easily removable from said bracket With the sheets contained therein with said tray acting as a carrier for the sheets and a storage bin for the sheets; like trays being easily mountable on said bracket and loaded, removed, carried, and stored as desired by the operator; said tray when removed carried, and stored maintaining the sheets in the organized condition and providing means for identifying sets of sheets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 867,684 Thomas Oct. 8, 1907 1,446,231 West Feb. 20, 1923 2,399,584 Thomas Apr. 30, 1946 3,076,647 Lowe et al, Feb. 5, 1963 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,159,378 France Feb. 10, 1958 

